Pressures of social and programmatic needs on architecture and urban form: towards a renewed approach to sustainability in the post-crisis era

Delsante, Ioanni
(2014)
Pressures of social and programmatic needs on architecture and urban form: towards a renewed approach to sustainability in the post-crisis era.
In: 4th Annual International Conference on Architecture, 7-10 July 2014, Athens, Greece.

Abstract

The paper investigates the “pressures specific to the twentiethcentury that combination of program imposes on architecture andurban form” (Holl, 2011).Financial crisis (2007-2008) and its consequences – not just in termsof urban development – have still not been absorbed/metabolized fromurban settlements, also because of still un-solved causes that generatedthe problem (in terms of economic tools, financial rules, real estateprocedures, etc) (Rossi, G. 2011).Large post-industrial sites’ reuse, under used districts for officesand services, housing districts and urban peripheries represent theresult of last decades’ globalization processes, real estate and financedriven processes, property speculation, etcThe complexity of contemporary society implies the creation of newcategories of spaces in which design processes are reversed: socialforms and communities’ needs provide reason and meaning toarchitectural transformations.Participation procedures, contractual communities, reappropriationprocesses are some of the tools that through differentdisciplines could have strong impact on architectural figures and forms.Design tools and procedure are also rapidly changing: on thecontrary of what traditional design processes prescribe, the managingof project scales is changed: the approach "from large to small scale"could be substituted by iterative processes, and urban links orconnections derive both from territorial approach and interior spaces’definition. Urban analysis and design tools should be updated: sectionsand three of four dimensional design take precedent over plan layouts.Process reveals itself as more important than mere shapes, andarchitecture show again its being a science in strong relationship withsociety.